


Birds of a Feather

by catpanflowers



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catpanflowers/pseuds/catpanflowers
Summary: Sakura, feeling abandoned, makes a deal with the devil. Well, it’s Kabuto, but close enough. She lets him use her as a test subject to find a different way to the immortality that Orochimaru craves. All the while hoping her efforts would spare Sasuke the fate that the Snake Sannin plans for him.





	Birds of a Feather

**Author's Note:**

> This is a definite mess. Her portrayed personality doesn't match her motivations too well. I will probably go back to edit this chapter after I write more of the plot I was working towards. She'll have a finely tuned psych by then.  
> I do not own any Naruto characters.

Chapter 1  
Sakura laid in her parents’ old bed as she numbly went over the events of the past six months. The chunin exams were one of the most terrifying experiences she went through besides Team 7’s mission to the Land of Waves. Her brief encounter with Orochimaru was what seemed to be the catalyst to her life currently being in shambles. She could still feel phantom shivers roaming her body when she thought of his soul-crushing killing intent and a deep sense of hopelessness from when she held Sasuke as his body wracked with pain from the curse seal. ‘Even after that I could do nothing but entertain the team from sound with my cries and screams.’ She grimaced. She knew she wasn’t ready for the exams when Kakashi-sens- “No, he’s not my sensei anymore.” She shifted restlessly in the navy blue comforter. 

She knew she wasn’t ready for the exams when Kakashi handed out the paperwork. Hell, they hadn’t even been genin for eight months. But the look of determination from Naruto and Sasuke pushed her into agreeing. Afterall, no matter what Kakashi said, the chunin exams were for teams only. They learned that in the first couple years in the academy. So, she had tried her hardest to at least get them to the point where they wouldn’t have had to depend on her to pass. In the end it didn’t matter though. Sound and Sand had attacked. The destruction caused was great and while she was in the hospital after being crushed by Shukaku (Gaara’s demon) she was informed of her parents’ deaths. She already knew. 

They were out at the market during the final stage of the exams and got caught up in a hostage situation. She was jumping from rooftop to rooftop with Naruto trying to catch up with Sasuke who was chasing an out of control Gaara out of the village. But she caught a glimpse of her father’s flower-shaped hair out of the corner of her eye and stopped abruptly. There in the street below, her mother and father, both on their knees with their hands behind their heads. Two enemy shinobi held blades to their necks while threatening the Konoha ninja across from them. A few words were passed between the fighters of her village. As the Sound nin became restless, her father was looking for some form of escape and caught her gaze with his by chance. He nudged his blonde wife’s elbow with his own and her eyes followed. 

Her gaze lit up with hope upon seeing her daughter with a kunai in hand standing on the nearby roof. Sakura stepped forward wanting to help, but the Konoha ninja sped forward, apparently coming to the conclusion that two civilian lives were worth the death or capture of two enemy ones. Her eyes widened and tears formed in the corners as her parents’ heads were cut clean off in the sound nin’s haste to get away. Crimson drops splattered within a small vicinity of the altercation as the chase went on. Their headless bodies lay stomach down in growing pools of blood. 

This all happened within the span of thirty second and she was startled from her numb observation when Naruto called back to her from a few roofs ahead. She noticed her body was shaking and repressed the scene to the back of her mind as she caught up. She started repeating the ninja rules in her head in order to collect herself long enough to finish her mission. They soon met up with an injured Sasuke and Sakura, terrified of seeing another one of her loved ones die, tried her hardest to fight the sand beast. She woke up in the hospital and was told of the state of the Konoha. The Third Hokage was dead. Naruto left with the Toad Sannin to find his blonde teammate who would hopefully become the Fifth Hokage. Sasuke and Kakashi were in the hospital due to being placed under a sharingan jutsu by Uchiha Itachi and many were recovering from a fight with the two Akatsuki members. And her parents were dead. She already knew. 

For the next couple of days she stayed in the hospital, numb to everything. They said she was in shock and she knew. The next day she was allowed to leave. She visited Sasuke and Kakashi, although they were still in their comas. She had stopped by once again later that week with a fresh bouquet of flowers for each. In the meantime she cleaned her house. Her neighbors were arranging for the funeral. She had taken down all of the pictures including her. She wouldn’t allow herself to smile when looking at the happy memories. Her guilt bloomed. ‘I was there. I could have saved them. They were counting on me.’ She couldn’t forget the desperate look of hope her mother sent her and the glad gaze her father showed. 

The image of their bloodied, decapitated heads rolling upon the crimson stained pavement with open dulled eyes would forever haunt her. This was one of the times she despised her photographic memory. She left their bedroom untouched and let the dust gather. Her own room was barely used. She had tried to sleep the first two nights, but all she saw was nightmares of the incident she could have prevented. She developed insomnia too quickly. Her neighbors had dragged her out of the house when the funeral came a week later. She didn’t even dress in black. She wore simple green shorts and a white t-shirt. 

She reveled in the whispers going around the seated crowd of her parents’ associates. “How disrespectful, wearing such formal clothes.” A young man scathingly whispered to his sister. “What a terrible child, not even mourning her own parents.” Another old lady griped. “She didn’t deserve such loving people in her life.” Her neighbors whispered. ‘Yes. It’s true. I didn’t deserve them. I don’t deserve to mourn them. I let them die. I deserve your scorn. Your hate.’ She thought while looking blankly ahead. She didn’t leave her house for days after. She stopped wearing her red shirts with her mother’s clan symbol on them. She just wore her green shorts with a white t-shirt. Her hair, still choppy from the exams, was a mess with random spikes sticking out. She didn’t sleep until she passed out from exhaustion due to her fear of her nightmares.

That all changed when she heard Sasuke and Kakashi had waken up in the hospital. Ino had come slamming on her front door yelling about it until Sakura woke up and picked herself off of the living room floor. She apparently passed out there a while ago. “Shut up, Ino-pig! I’ll be by to get some flowers after I get ready.” She yelled out in a slightly hollow tone through the door. “It’ll take hours for you to get ready enough for Sasuke-kun to notice you, but whatever. See you later!” The blonde yelled back before leaving. Sakura not wanting to see Sasuke without looking at least mildly presentable went to shower and change (sadly she had no other okay looking clothes besides her normal red dress). She hesitantly put it on while apologizing to her ancestors for her failure and ran out to the Yamanaka flower shop. She picked up two bouquets once again and headed to the hospital. 

Sakura knocked on the brooding Uchiha’s door and heard no answer so she slipped in. She smiled a little at seeing the boy awake, but noticed he was gazing away out the window with a scowl. “Sasuke-kun,” She started. “I brought you some get-well flowers. How are you?” He stayed silent and didn’t even acknowledge her. “Ah, okay. I’ll just let you get some more rest. I’m going to visit Kakashi-sensei, if you need anything.” She strayed off as she laid the flowers on the bedside table and left. She made her way to her jonin-sensei’s room and knocked in the same fashion. Once again no answer. She sighed and opened the door. Only to find no one on the bed. She looked towards the open window and guess he escaped. She decided to just leave the flowers on the bedside table and leave. 

As she made her way back home she passed the graveyard. She stood on the outside of the wrought-iron fence looking over the grey stones. ‘I don’t deserve to mourn them.’ She thought as she left the garden of death. The next days past with little change in her sleepless routine, although she did stop by the market to buy some new clothes. Her new daily ninja outfit consisted of: knee-length black ninja sandals, loose, black ninja pants tucked into the shoes, a navy-blue turtleneck with three-quarter length sleeves, a long-sleeve mesh shirt under that, plain black gloves, and dark grey vest with a hood. 

She occasionally bought food, but normally only ate one meal a day trying to consider how much money she had left and how she didn’t know when she would have a mission. She was cooking herself some ramen when a knock came to her door. “Yes?” She called out from the kitchen. “Haruno-san, the Fifth Hokage has summoned you.” A muffled voice responded. “Alright, I’ll be there in a second.” She replied as she turned off the stove and placed her boiling water on the back burner to cool. “Guess I’ll eat later.” She said to herself as she went to get ready. She wore her new gear except for the mesh shirt and vest and took off on rooftops toward the hokage tower. 

She heard Naruto’s loud voice yelling through the door, so she just let herself in. In the seat behind the desk sat the new Hokage. The great Tsunade, Slug Sannin. Sakura walked right up to the desk and bowed deeply. “My lady, Haruno Sakura at your service.” The rest of her team stood behind her bickering (Naruto and Sasuke) and reading a perverted book (Kakashi). “God, you make me feel old. Stand down Haruno.” The blonde sighed out. Sakura rose and moved off to the side. She glanced at team 7 making sure to check sasuke’s wellness. ‘Well, he can’t be too bad if he’s arguing with Naruto already.’ She sighed in relief and focused on her new leader once again. 

“This is just a check in after the crazy shit that just went down. None of you made chunin,” Naruto yelled in outrage before getting a stapler thrown at him. “Mainly because I wasn’t there for the exam. You’ll just have to wait for the next one, whenever that’ll be. Hatake-san you will be leading a chunin team in out-of-village missions. The rest of you just help where you can in the reconstruction. I’ll call you back here if there is a change. You three are dismissed.” She explained before threatening Naruto to leave at his reluctance. Sakura decided to try to talk to Sasuke a bit before returning home for food. “Hey Sasuke-kun, want to go get some dinner with me?” She asked as she skipped up to him with a cheerful smile. ‘Fake it till’ you make, cha!’ She thought to herself as she smiled wider. “Hn, I’m going home.” He mumbled as he walked swiftly away. 

Her smile dropped and she continued walking to her own home. “Hey Sakura-chan want to go get ramen with me?” He asked excitedly. She frowned even more. “You baka Naruto! I’m going home too.” She stated as she kept herself from hitting him on the back of the head. He just rubbed the back of his neck and headed his own way. Two days later was the Third Hokage’s funeral. Most shinobi were there and even some civilians. Everyone wore black and it was raining. A perfect setting for the mourning of a good-natured old man.

The day after Naruto came to her saying the Toad Sannin was going to take him on a training trip. Who knew how long it would last. He said it was to get stronger to be able to fight the Akatsuki. He left two days later. Another day was filled with Sakura helping the reconstruction and she heard rumors of how some of their ninjas had an altercation with the Akatsuki a ways out of town. The two boys of her team returned with the Sage for a medical check up. Afterword, she just couldn’t get rid of the terrible feeling she had. Her instincts were going haywire trying to warn her of something. 

So later that night, as the feeling was still bothering her, she went for a walk. She ended up on the road leading out of the village and spotted Sasuke. That night he left, leaving her knocked out on the cement bench under a tree. She felt more guilt. She was unable to keep him here. From abandoning her and Naruto. An anbu told her of another summoning and she was met with a team of genin who were supposed to retrieve him. Neji-san said he was a lost cause. She already knew. He would never even consider coming back until he killed his brother. He was lost to hatred and no one was looking out for him out there. So they left on a hopeless mission and she was told to stay behind. 

She wasn’t strong enough to force him to stay. They came back injured and with varying degrees of anger and sadness. She met him in the hospital with some flowers and he promised her he would get stronger and bring him back. She already knew. He would get stronger, but so would Sasuke. They were already evenly matched and she remembered the fight from the hospital roof. They will kill each other. One for a chance to bring him back. One for a chance to stay away. She already knew. She caused this. Due to her failures; failure to keep him here and failure to not being strong enough to bring him back herself, they will die. She cried for his promise of death, even if he didn’t know that’s what it was. 

He finally left a week later to start his training trip. Two more weeks of working on rebuilding passed and she was called summoned. “My lady?” She asked after she knocked. “Come in, Haruno.” The woman on the other side said tiredly. She walked forward and stood in front of her desk silently. “Hatake has decided to be reinstated into anbu and thus Team 7 is going to be dissolved indefinitely. For now you will be placed on another team that lost a member to promotion.” She stated. “Hai.” The girl responded. “Team 10 will be meeting tomorrow for training at eight. Be at training grounds 12.” She dismissed. Sakura left the building and prepared her ninja gear at home. ‘With Ino and Choji… I hope they treat me well.’ She thought as she laid down for a sleepless night. 

The next morning she was up at dawn and went to the training grounds early. She practiced by running around the clearing until she passed out from exhaustion. She woke up a mere forty minutes later to a foot nudging her leg. “Geez Forehead, you look terrible. No wonder you’re out cold. You need as much beauty sleep as you can get.” She sneered as the Pinkette lifted her head. “Shut up, Ino-pig. At least sleep can fix how bad I look.” She replied with a sigh. She climbed to her feet as Choji approached a bag of chips in his hands. “Hey Sakura-san.” He greeted. “Hello, Choji-san.” She responded. Asuma-sensei arrived five minutes later and that’s how the last few months have been. 

Sakura felt awkward being on the team. She always thought it was a sacred bond between the three families than spanned generations and to be placed in the middle of the ‘ShikaInoCho’ group minus ‘Shika’ made her timid. Choji was nice, but often let Ino walk all over him and Ino and her fought like rabid dogs whether it be verbally or physically. It kind of reminder her of Naruto and Sasuke, but she really gained nothing from it. She had barely improved. Although, Asuma-sensei was a way better teacher than Kakashi. He strived to help no matter how little the problem. 

They went on a plenty of D-rank missions and even a couple of mild C-ranks. Lady Hokage even gave a few field promotions since the last chunin exam was incompleted. As of now there are more chunin in the rookie nine then there are genin. Sadly, she was still not one of them. Ino was promoted just last week after she took charge during an ambush. They were coming back from a c-rank which involved escorting an old lady and her granddaughter to a nearby village. Apparently there was a rise in rogue nin within fire country. One had spotted them while Asuma was away from the camp scouring around for food. 

The fiery blonde lept into action as soon as it happened and gave out orders with confidence only a child from a clan could have. Sakura was sent to fetch Asuma-sensei while she and Choji fought. The green-eyed girl thought that was probably a very bad idea for her to leave on her own. Afterall, they didn’t know how many rogues were out there, but followed Ino’s lead anyway. Luckily there were no more than the strange B-ranking outlier in the forest and Asuma was on his way back anyways. They got back into the clearing just as the man was knocked out by one of Choji’s inflated fists. 

He had been so proud of his students and patted them on their heads as the two preened under his attention. Sakura felt the distance between them and herself very clearly that day. She knew they weren’t trying to leave her out, but it just happened naturally due to the fact that she didn’t belong there. She wasn’t meant for a place on their team and she knew. Where could she go though? The only place she may have belonged was with her old team, but even then she didn’t belong and was abandoned. She had no place there anymore. 

After that her team consisted of Hinata, Choji, and herself. They were all soft-spoken and didn’t talk much, but still the balance was tipped towards the pale-eyed girl and the swirly cheeked boy. They often beat her in training and she told herself it was fine due to the fact that her main motivation to fight was gone. Ino had moved on and their cat fights were no more. Soon enough the other two were promoted and she was left alone. They had assigned Asuma-sensei to his original team, now made chunin. Sakura was falling in on herself and retreated back to her empty house. She still had nightmares and barely slept, but it became a normality now. No one saw her enough to question the gradual deterioration of her body and soul. The darkening around her eyes was more prominent (kind of like Gaara, but it was mainly because of his one-tailed demon). Her ribs poked through her thin skin unhealthily and she often just sat on her back porch at night, meditating and trying to make her chakra expand and avoiding sleep. 

She got delivered an obscene amount of d-ranks due to the fact that there were no other genin at the moment. The academy would spit out at least two teams by the end of summer. It was all placed on her now. Lady Hokage assured her that she had enough experience to work without a team or sensei since they were basically chores. The old, but young looking, woman understood that Sakura was going through a rough patch and tried to keep her busy enough to keep her mind off of negative thoughts, but she obviously did not understand how deep her plight went. It has now been around seven months since her team was officially broken up and she was on her way back from a mission across town. An old man had wanted help pulling weeds in his garden. This was often times one of the most popular requests. It was difficult for the elderly to bend down like that for so long.

Her impassive stare rested upon the busy streets. The evening rush was at its peak and she had wanted to buy some more groceries, but decided she could wait. It was always less busy during midday when the sun was high in the sky. She treaded home in her white t-shirt and green shorts. Her tan kunai pouch strapped to her leg and her navy hitai-ate hanging around her neck. She pulled out her keys and unlocked her front door. The lights were off and she left them that way before walking to the kitchen table and laying her pouch down. 

She felt no sign of sleepiness even if she was outside all day. It’s not like she was doing any straining physical work so she decided to go meditate on the back porch once again. After about an hour she sensed someone approach. Their chakra was masked quite well and if she wasn’t in her focused state then she would definitely have not of noticed them until she heard a stick snap underfoot. She opened her eyes just as a young man entered her backyard. There was no fence so it was open to the forest, but the trees were not so thick as to completely block out the moonlight. 

Silver hair, tied back in a low spiky ponytail shifted in the wind and the pale light glinted off of round glasses. She just stared at him as he stalked up to her. “Sakura-chan.” He nodded in greeting as he sat down next to her on the old wood. She stayed silent. “Do you remember me? We were in the chunin exams together.” He stated matter of factly. She just nodded as she looked straight ahead into the forest. “How have you been? I hear you’ve been doing well on your missions.” He asked.   
There was a pause before she finally glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. His ash grey eyes held an intelligent gleam and she could tell his intentions were not good. “Small talk does not suit you, Kabuto-san. What is the point of your presence?” She asked as she looked forward again. 

Her body was relaxed which displeased the man a little bit. She should be afraid of him. Unless… did she not know he was an enemy? ‘Oh, how amusing. She will be even more easy to manipulate’ He thought to himself. “Hmm, well I couldn’t help but notice earlier at the market that you looked down.” He stated.   
“I’m sure I looked down more than once. Seeing as you were there, I wouldn’t of wanted to trip on any trash.” He chuckled at her bored yet insulting tone. 

“You wound me greatly, Sakura-chan. Anyhow, I was thinking we could go for a walk in the forest and catch up. I know it’s late, but it’s not like you have a curfew anymore.” He responded trying to coax a reaction from his obvious jab at the loss of her parents.   
“Very well.” She said.   
They both stood up and followed an old meandering path through the woods. “I hear you have been taking as many d-ranks that come in. How have those been treating you? I know I would hate having to catch that damn cat every week.” He started with a small laugh. 

“They have been fine. Easiest money a person could make I guess.” She replied. ‘If he really wants small talk before he kills me or what ever he came here to do he can have it. It’s not like I have anything more important to do.’ She thought to herself. “It must be lonely doing that all by yourself though. Day-in and day-out. Only then to go home to an empty house.” He remarked.   
“Yes, well I’m sure you would know.” She said as the man paused for a moment before he kept walking beside her. ‘Does she know something?’ He questioned himself as he eyed her from the corner of his eye. 

“Or maybe not… No one actually knows what way the snake swings. Is he your type is the question.” She kept walking forward as Kabuto stood stalk still and look of shock and disbelief on his sharp features. She slowly turned around on her heel with her hands clasped behind her back. “Oh, was I right then?” She asked with a wicked smirk she reserved only for Ino.   
He took a moment to shut down his real emotions and smiled back. “I assure you. It is merely professional inside and out.” He started walking as she turned back around. “Have you known this whole time?” He asked with an amused smirk. 

“Of course. Did you really think Naruto would come back from such a fight and not scream it to the whole world?” She asked also amused.   
“I guess not, but then why are you conversing with me if you know I’m a traitor?” He was still very confused on that part. The girl he knew from the chunin exams was loyal to her village even if a scaredy-cat. She could have called any number of ninja to his trail should she have wanted to. Looking at her now though he could sense no trace of fear or trepidation. She had an air of nonchalance and blatant disregard for the happenings around her that truly showed how bored she was.   
“I wouldn’t be able to fight you if I tried and even then I was just simply bored. Pissing you off seemed fun so I decided to do it. Did that answer your question?” She asked as she glanced at him with dull green eyes. 

“Uh, I guess.” He replied. ‘This kid is absolutely psychotic. I could of come to kill her and she knew that could be a possibility yet she still followed me just to have some fun?!’ He was a little astonished at how much she changed. “What changed you?” He whispered out loud to himself, but Sakura caught it.   
“I just simply realised my place in the world.” She responded with a small smile and a giggle.   
“And where would that be?” He asked. “I simply don’t have one.” She said.   
He frowned at that. ‘Strange… very strange.’ “May I offer a proposal then?” He questioned.   
“I guess.” She shrugged. 

“Alright. Well, I’m working on a new project and I need some help with it.” He glanced at her to see if she was following so far. She nodded. “What I hope to achieve is immortality.” She snorted. “Not for myself of course, but for Orochimaru-sama. In order to test out my theory I need subjects of a certain caliber. I have come quite close to a positive result, but my subjects are still lacking in one area. It is greatly difficult to find someone adequate enough for the process, but alas I remembered a young genin with the exact innate talents I need.” 

She stopped a couple feet ahead of him. “Oh? And what would this talent be, perhaps?” She turned to smirk at him condescendingly. ‘Me having talent? How absurd.’ She thought to herself.   
“Your chakra control. I have seen your record and they have you listed in the 98th percentile. A feat only matched by two other shinobi in history who are now long dead.”   
Her face scrunched in confusion. “Chakra control?” She asked hesitantly.   
“You did not know?” He questioned on the exact same page as her. ‘Why would they not tell her of her strengths? Did they not try to cater to her natural abilities?’ He shook his head at that thought. This was Konohagakure. They have some of the best shinobi in the world. They surely would not let an extraordinary talent like this be passed up. 

“I had Hatake Kakashi as my genin sensei.” She stated blandly as if that was explanation enough. Sadly, it was.   
“Ah, the lazy old man. No wonder you’re not a chunin yet.” He chuckled.   
“So what is in it for me then? The price of a top quality human subject is quite large.” She stated. ‘Am I actually thinking about this?’ She thought incredulously.   
“Do you know the reason why Orochimaru lured Sasuke into his den?” He asked.   
Her heart froze for a moment then sped up. ‘Why did the snake want him?’ She shook her head.   
“He plans to use his body.” He paused.   
“Ew, I knew he swung the other way, but seriously that’s pedofilia!” She squirmed in disgust. 

“Gah! What no! Not like that!” He rebuked. “He want to use his body as a vessel thus obtaining immortality.” He sighed trying to get those disgusting images out his mind.   
“Oh, so he is just going to keep transferring his mind into different bodies until mankind dies?” She stated bluntly.   
“Basically, but if my project is successful he won’t need Sasuke’s body anymore and will leave him intact. Or at least his body, I’m not too sure about his mind.” He said quizzically. Orochimaru-sama had a way of driving people into the depths of insanity so he wasn’t sure how the arrogant boy would fare. 

“Ah, so you want me to help you help the snake which would include you helping me help Sasuke.” She nodded.   
“I guess?” ‘She’s so confusing.’ He thought exasperatedly.   
‘It seems there will be someone watching your back out there after all, you damn bastard.’ She thought to herself as she chuckled evilly. Kabuto sweat dropped and took a step back. “Okay. When do we leave?” She asked as her blank expression came back. ‘I may not be strong or a good fighter, but at least I have something can be of use to you Sasuke. I won’t let another person I know die when I can do something about it.’ She internally monologued. 

“Do you need anything from the house that is of value?” He quizzed.   
“No.” She stated as she lightly brushed the pocket of her shorts. ‘I have everything I’ll ever need with me.’ She thought. The photo of team seven sat silently in her dark pocket.   
“Then we can leave right now. Get on my back or you’ll slow us down.” She nodded and climbed on.


End file.
